Operation Goodfellas Drug Probe Smashes Mob-Linked Ring
UPDATED
In November 2000, David Antinuche threatened an Assistant District Attorney with whom he found himself in a Queens courthouse elevator. "I've got a trophy for you for loser of the year," Antinuche told him....
David Antinuche, 51, and four alleged accomplices were busted following a 10-month narcotics probe in Queens and Brooklyn dubbed “Operation Goodfellas.”
Undercover officers made 19 purchases, buying a total of 300 grams of cocaine and 150 grams of heroin with a combined street value of $35,000. At least two batches of the heroin contained the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
The undercovers convinced Antinuche, an alleged Gambino associate, to introduce them to his suppliers, said Deputy Inspector Dominick D’Orazio, commanding officer of the NYPD’s Criminal Enterprise Investigative Section.
Antinuche’s rap sheet includes previous busts for attempted murder, robbery and drugs.
In November 2000, David Antinuche threatened an Assistant District Attorney with whom he found himself in a Queens courthouse elevator. "I've got a trophy for you for loser of the year," Antinuche told him....
David Antinuche, 51, and four alleged accomplices were busted following a 10-month narcotics probe in Queens and Brooklyn dubbed “Operation Goodfellas.”
Undercover officers made 19 purchases, buying a total of 300 grams of cocaine and 150 grams of heroin with a combined street value of $35,000. At least two batches of the heroin contained the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
The undercovers convinced Antinuche, an alleged Gambino associate, to introduce them to his suppliers, said Deputy Inspector Dominick D’Orazio, commanding officer of the NYPD’s Criminal Enterprise Investigative Section.
Antinuche’s rap sheet includes previous busts for attempted murder, robbery and drugs.
He was once described by law enforcement authorities as the leader of the Young Guns, a violent Queens crew once linked to former Gambino capo Ronald (Ronnie One-Arm) Trucchio, now serving life in prison.
He and Robert Henricks, 42, were both arrested Tuesday at their home at 73-32 53rd Road in Maspeth, where cops seized several glassine envelopes of heroin and drug paraphernalia.
Three other men — Santiago Villarraga, 23; Samuel Rivera, 47; and Eliescer Matta Medina, 25 — were also busted, and two others were being sought.
Did some quick background research. There may be an additional follow-up to this story later.
In June 2006, Antinuche pulled a knife on a manager at a Williamsburg jewelry store on Graham Avenue. Antinuche asked to see a $2,500 earring, tried it on, then with the help of his girlfriend who suddenly entered the store, he allegedly switched it with a fugazi. The manager saw the scam, activated a silent alarm, and was next staring down the blade of the knife that Antinuche pulled on him.
Police responded and Antinuche was arrested and charged with menacing, robbery and weapons possession.
In April 1998, an arrest warrant was issued for Antinuche for punching a Lehman Township man in the face and shooting a gun. Described in news reports as a then-convicted drug dealer, Antinuche, of Howard Beach, was charged with a felony for having an unlicensed gun.
Antinuche also faced misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment, making terroristic threats, and assault.
According to court records, Marc Vincent Falsetta and David Greenfield were returning from Newark Airport April 8 when they saw Antinuche, whom they knew, at a Texaco gas station in Marshalls Creek.
Falsetta and Greenfield arrived in a white limousine at the Pocono Ranch Lands home Falsetta was renting between 6 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. A Jeep, with Antinuche inside, pulled up within minutes and Antinuche got out, flashing a silver gun tucked in the waist of his pants.
Falsetta said he didn’t want any problems.
“You do have a f?-ing problem,” Antinuche told him, according to court records.
Falsetta went inside, called 911 and returned to the porch.
Then, Antinuche allegedly fired a single shot into the air, which neighbors heard, and punched Falsetta in the face.
Antinuche then ran back to the Jeep, which was being driven by a female and also had another male inside.
Antinuch then told Falsetta he was “gonna come and chop you up and bury you.”
A security camera at the development’s main gate showed the Jeep entering at 6:15 p.m. and leaving at 6:28 p.m.
Greenfield, who was 19, died three days later. His death reportedly was under investigation.
As recently as May 2010, David was mentioned in a memorandum and order filed in the Eastern District:
On February 22, 2000, following a traffic stop in Queens, New York, a loaded .38 caliber handgun was recovered by law enforcement officers from under the driver's seat of petitioner's car. (Michael) Antinuche was driving the vehicle at the time, with his brother, David, riding in the front seat and three other men in the back seat. Following discovery of the gun, petitioner and all four passengers were arrested, and petitioner was subsequently charged with one count of second degree criminal possession of a weapon and two counts of third degree criminal possession of a weapon....
The primary defense witness was Jason Bonn, who had been seated in the middle of the back seat of the car on the night of the traffic stop. Bonn testified that the gun belonged to him and that he had purchased it the night before. Bonn further testified that the gun was in his waistband and covered by his shirt, and that nobody else in the car knew he had it on him. When police surrounded the car, according to Bonn, he grabbed the gun by the handle with his left hand and placed it under the driver's seat. Prior to cross-examining Bonn, the prosecutor sought permission from the court to question him about his relationships with the Antinuche brothers, and to attempt to establish that Bonn, petitioner and his brother had used the gun recovered in the car to commit a robbery earlier in the day, that Bonn was a member of a gang that was led by petitioner and his brother, and that Bonn sold drugs for David Antinuche.
The prosecutor stated that the evidence was generally relevant to assessing Bonn's interest and bias, and specifically, that the evidence of the robbery was relevant and admissible in light of Bonn's testimony that he alone possessed and controlled the gun. Defense counsel objected that this tack would be prejudicial and not probative of the charges against petitioner, and would amount to evidence of an uncharged crime of which the defense had not been given notice. After hearing both sides, the court permitted the prosecutor to proceed with the requested line of questioning....
On cross examination, Bonn repeatedly denied that he ever participated in any other criminal activity with petitioner and his brother. Bonn maintained that he decided to testify because he believed it to be the right thing to do, not because he was afraid of petitioner and/or his brother, or wanted to curry favor with them, or because he knew that he faced the least possible penalty of anyone else in the car given his relatively young age and clean criminal record.
Bonn also denied that David had told him to "take the weight" for petitioner's gun charge, and either denied or stated that he did not recall receiving several dozen phone calls from petitioner between his arrest and the trial...
He and Robert Henricks, 42, were both arrested Tuesday at their home at 73-32 53rd Road in Maspeth, where cops seized several glassine envelopes of heroin and drug paraphernalia.
Three other men — Santiago Villarraga, 23; Samuel Rivera, 47; and Eliescer Matta Medina, 25 — were also busted, and two others were being sought.
Did some quick background research. There may be an additional follow-up to this story later.
In June 2006, Antinuche pulled a knife on a manager at a Williamsburg jewelry store on Graham Avenue. Antinuche asked to see a $2,500 earring, tried it on, then with the help of his girlfriend who suddenly entered the store, he allegedly switched it with a fugazi. The manager saw the scam, activated a silent alarm, and was next staring down the blade of the knife that Antinuche pulled on him.
Police responded and Antinuche was arrested and charged with menacing, robbery and weapons possession.
In April 1998, an arrest warrant was issued for Antinuche for punching a Lehman Township man in the face and shooting a gun. Described in news reports as a then-convicted drug dealer, Antinuche, of Howard Beach, was charged with a felony for having an unlicensed gun.
Antinuche also faced misdemeanor charges of reckless endangerment, making terroristic threats, and assault.
According to court records, Marc Vincent Falsetta and David Greenfield were returning from Newark Airport April 8 when they saw Antinuche, whom they knew, at a Texaco gas station in Marshalls Creek.
Falsetta and Greenfield arrived in a white limousine at the Pocono Ranch Lands home Falsetta was renting between 6 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. A Jeep, with Antinuche inside, pulled up within minutes and Antinuche got out, flashing a silver gun tucked in the waist of his pants.
Falsetta said he didn’t want any problems.
“You do have a f?-ing problem,” Antinuche told him, according to court records.
Falsetta went inside, called 911 and returned to the porch.
Then, Antinuche allegedly fired a single shot into the air, which neighbors heard, and punched Falsetta in the face.
Antinuche then ran back to the Jeep, which was being driven by a female and also had another male inside.
Antinuch then told Falsetta he was “gonna come and chop you up and bury you.”
A security camera at the development’s main gate showed the Jeep entering at 6:15 p.m. and leaving at 6:28 p.m.
Greenfield, who was 19, died three days later. His death reportedly was under investigation.
As recently as May 2010, David was mentioned in a memorandum and order filed in the Eastern District:
On February 22, 2000, following a traffic stop in Queens, New York, a loaded .38 caliber handgun was recovered by law enforcement officers from under the driver's seat of petitioner's car. (Michael) Antinuche was driving the vehicle at the time, with his brother, David, riding in the front seat and three other men in the back seat. Following discovery of the gun, petitioner and all four passengers were arrested, and petitioner was subsequently charged with one count of second degree criminal possession of a weapon and two counts of third degree criminal possession of a weapon....
The primary defense witness was Jason Bonn, who had been seated in the middle of the back seat of the car on the night of the traffic stop. Bonn testified that the gun belonged to him and that he had purchased it the night before. Bonn further testified that the gun was in his waistband and covered by his shirt, and that nobody else in the car knew he had it on him. When police surrounded the car, according to Bonn, he grabbed the gun by the handle with his left hand and placed it under the driver's seat. Prior to cross-examining Bonn, the prosecutor sought permission from the court to question him about his relationships with the Antinuche brothers, and to attempt to establish that Bonn, petitioner and his brother had used the gun recovered in the car to commit a robbery earlier in the day, that Bonn was a member of a gang that was led by petitioner and his brother, and that Bonn sold drugs for David Antinuche.
The prosecutor stated that the evidence was generally relevant to assessing Bonn's interest and bias, and specifically, that the evidence of the robbery was relevant and admissible in light of Bonn's testimony that he alone possessed and controlled the gun. Defense counsel objected that this tack would be prejudicial and not probative of the charges against petitioner, and would amount to evidence of an uncharged crime of which the defense had not been given notice. After hearing both sides, the court permitted the prosecutor to proceed with the requested line of questioning....
On cross examination, Bonn repeatedly denied that he ever participated in any other criminal activity with petitioner and his brother. Bonn maintained that he decided to testify because he believed it to be the right thing to do, not because he was afraid of petitioner and/or his brother, or wanted to curry favor with them, or because he knew that he faced the least possible penalty of anyone else in the car given his relatively young age and clean criminal record.
Bonn also denied that David had told him to "take the weight" for petitioner's gun charge, and either denied or stated that he did not recall receiving several dozen phone calls from petitioner between his arrest and the trial...
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